The present invention comprises a new Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name ‘Fismirwhi’.
‘Fismirwhi’ is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar ‘Fismirwhi’ has cream-white, moderately lobed bracts, dark green foliage, early flowering, and medium sized plant habit.
‘Fismirwhi’ originated from hybridizations made from late June to early August 2002 in a controlled breeding program in Hillscheid, Germany. The female parent was the commercial variety ‘Fiselfi’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,736, with red, distinctly lobed bracts and dark green foliage.
The male parent of ‘Fismirwhi’ was the pollen mixture ‘H’, taken from a group of proprietary plants (unpatented breeding lines) with bright red bracts and dark green foliage.
‘Fismirwhi’ was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in December 2003 in a controlled environment in Hillscheid, Germany.
The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Fismirwhi’ was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were used from the initial selection in the spring of 2004 and grafted on rootstocks of the variety ‘Maren’, in order to improve the branching ability. Cuttings from the successfully grafted stems were used in the summer of 2005, rooted and cultivated for the first, small trial in fall and winter of 2005.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in the summer of 2005 in Hillscheid, Germany, and continuing thereafter on a larger scale, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for ‘Fismirwhi’ are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
‘Fismirwhi’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
Plant Breeders' Rights for this cultivar were applied for in the European Union on Apr. 10, 2008 and in Canada on Jul. 4, 2008. ‘Fismirwhi’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.